Barnardo’s is the UK’s largest children’s charity, operating on the ground in every community in the country. While recognition of the name is high, there is a limited awareness of the breadth of their work and we needed to reach a more diverse audience, reflective of modern day Britain.

To reassert the relevance of Barnardo’s we ripped up the rulebook of children’s charity advertising, eschewing sad eyes and sorrow filled music for something far more powerful.

The Insight

No matter how tough the circumstances, children have an incredible ability to bounce back and transform their lives.

The Idea

Show Barnardo’s children as the heroes of their own stories, defiantly and directly addressing our audience.

Barnardo's FCB Inferno Believe In Me from FCB Inferno on Vimeo.

The Film

Directed by Sara Dunlop, the film features five young children stepping up into spaces that represent the trauma they’ve experienced. Using powerful, mesmerising performances, the children demonstrate that no matter how dark their past, a brighter future awaits. 60 and 40 second edits will run on TV into Winter 2016, as well as cinema.

One Child. One Take

Alongside the TVC, we’ve created bold short films that dive deeper into the children’s stories. Focusing on one child per film and shot in a single take, these beautifully raw performances show exactly what’s possible when you Believe In Children.

They launch in October, so watch this space.

Online

Online content encourages deeper engagement with Believe In Me. Alongside the single stories, users can dive into the case studies behind the campaign and the work Barnardo’s does across the UK. A tailored approach has been adopted for each social channel, specific to its strengths, etiquette and the difference in user behaviour between each platform.

Print

Print focused on individual stories with bold statements from the children taking them from victims to heroes. This ran in both national press and specific BME media placements.